Most of the family left on March 15 but my dad stayed with us until March 24. It was SO terrific having my dad here the extra time. I am loving the partial retirement that enabled him to do it.
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| He did Bible for school with the girls each day. How awesome to have an "expert" teaching you! |
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| After supper, he'd go out and play Red Light, Green Light. |
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| Hearing a bedtime story. This might have been when he told them the Elephant Man story. |
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| Don and Sue Perkins also came down for a few days. |
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| After my dad left, Aunt Toni and Uncle Terry came by for a couple of days as they made their rounds in Florida. The winter brings that out in people it seems. |
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| It was nice to have Aunt Toni in Sabbath School to help Colby since I'm the teacher and have to attend to other things during class. |
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| Speaking of coming to Florida, Ron's son and daughter-in-law came to visit with their almost 3-year old daughter, Zoe, whom we had never met. It was neat for the cousins to spend time together. |
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| She turned three but she's almost as tall as Brady...not surprising considering her parents are both over six feet tall. On Sunday, March 24 many Adventurer clubs from Central Florida got together at our church for a Fun Day. The kids worked on honors and various other fun things but the highlight of the day was reciting 12 memory verses from memory. They announced there would be prizes for whichever Adventurer could recite the most memory verses. For several weeks leading up to the event, I worked with the girls to learn them all. They were very eager to do so! Here are the verses they learned: 1.) Isaiah 40:31 - But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint. 2.) Philippians 4:13 - I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. 3.) Hebrews 12:1 - Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 4.) 2 Timothy 4:7 - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 5.) Philippians 3:13 - I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize. 6.) Psalm 119:32 - I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free. 7.) Psalm 60:12 - With God’s help, we will do mighty things. 8.) Romans 5:3 - We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 9.) 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (NIV) 10.) 1 Cor. 10:31 - So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (NIV) 11.) 2 Timothy 2:5 - An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 12.) Deuteronomy 31:6 - Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. It may look like a lot and I guess it is but it amazes me how kids (really in general) are able to memorize things so quickly. It really didn't seem like that much work for them to learn them all. Part of the inspiration to learn them was because "very good" prizes were mentioned. Rumors were going around that a previous winner had gotten an iPad. It seemed hard for me to believe! The morning of the event started off very poorly when I awoke to Brady telling me that the dogs had pooped in their crate overnight. Fortunately for Duncan, unfortunately for me, he was off doing the Tour de Cure bike ride. He lucked out on that one. I had to give the dogs baths and also had to clean out the crate while trying to hold my nose all at 7:30 am. So fun. But things looked up from there. After attending the "opening ceremony" at 9:00 am, the kids worked on an honor and then it was time for them to do the memory verses. I was just excited as they were! They both did really great and recited them all perfectly! Calleigh went first and then Aubree. It was all very informal with them just standing in front of an older lady. There was nobody even watching or anything. They both received a pin that said "Memory Verse Master" and then we just had to wait until the end to see if they won anything or not. Meanwhile, we told Calleigh's teacher what she had done and he said "I know one year someone won an iPod." That was a little different from an iPad but still exciting!       The closing program was at 2:00 pm and that was where we learned that the girls were two of only four kids out of more than 300 that had learned all 12 memory verses! The called each one up to award them a prize which were some books, small Lego set, game, etc. The other two kids were boys but one of them had already left. After each of the three received their prize, they randomly picked one to be the grand prize winner. Who would it be?? We had a two in three chance. And the winner was....Calleigh!! We couldn't wait to see the prize. Well...so much for an electronic gadget. The grand prize was a nice set of books. Thankfully they handled it very well and weren't too disappointed it wasn't something "better."  The following week was Investiture at the church to conclude the year for the Adventurers. The Adventurers were already going to be performing a couple of songs up front during all three services so Pastor Barb asked if the girls would like to do their memory verses during that time as well. I know some kids might be too shy or nervous to do it but not Calleigh and Aubree. They jumped at the chance! I will admit I was a little nervous on their behalf but they did so well all three times. Several people told me what a blessing it was to hear those verses especially coming from children. Praise the Lord!   During Investiture that afternoon, they recited them again, including Psalm 23 that they had learned for school, and they were called up to receive a special award. It was a very proud moment for Duncan and me.           This marked the end of an era as Calleigh is officially no longer an Adventurer. Next year she will be a Pathfinder! Hard to believe but it's true. Next year also means that Colby will make into Adventurers as a Little Lamb. Now that all four of the kids will be in something, I decided it was time to become part of the Adventurer team so I will be one of the leaders of the Little Lambs along with my friend Patti (she teaches the same Sabbath School class as I do but in the next time slot). |